Reawakening the Dragon Exhibition

05/10/2017 @ 9:30 am - 15/04/2018 @ 5:30 pm

A new exhibition at Sovereign Hill’s Gold Museum will unveil one of the most extensive Chinese artefact collections, and for the first time in over five decades, will reawaken Loong, one of Australia’s oldest dragons.

Running from 5th October 2017 – 15th April 2018, ‘Re-awakening the Dragon’ will showcase items once used by Ballarat’s Chinese community for social, cultural and religious ceremonies, including the spectacular dragon.

In 1897, Queen Victoria marked her sixty-year reign over the British Commonwealth, and celebrations were held throughout the colonies on Diamond Jubilee Day on 22 June, 1897.

Ballarat’s Chinese community joined the festivities by staging an elaborate procession featuring colourful costumes, dragons, lions, exquisite silk textiles, banners and other regalia. Money was raised to purchase a collection of materials and textiles for the occasion from Canton, China.

The dragon and lion are the oldest documented examples in Australia, and Ballarat is now only one of four known sites where a Qing Dynasty dragon survives in whole or part. The Gold Museum’s dragon can be dated back to the late Qing dynasty (1644-1911).